Sailing the trails of Odysseus and Herodotus

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Sailing the trails of Odysseus

In 2011 there is another trip planned and I will be circumsailing the Adriatic Sea with my crew again. This time I will be heading southwards to the birthplace of Odysseus: Ithaca.

I am currently planning the route and doing research to this amazing area. Looking for places somehow attached to the adventures of Odysseus and his crew, the route he did sail and anything else of any significance that happend there the last 3,000 years.

By far the zenith of the trip will be sailing into the city Vathi on the island Ithaca, home of Odysseus (it would be blasphemy saying sailing into Vathi like Odysseus). Unfortunately the more I read, the more I learn and the more I want to know.

This area has just a stinking lot of legendary ancient locations

Some examples: of all the immortal Gods of the Greek mythology, one did die. It was Pan, god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, as well as the companion of the nymphs, and he chose an island just above Levkas to die.

Pan chasing Nymphs in better times

Ali Pasha and his crew enjoying the lake after some hard labour

A more recent one would be Ali Pasha who lived around 1740 – 1822 and ruled in the area between Korfu and Levaks for the Ottoman Sultan. Ali Pasha’s rule was associated with pure cruelty. One of his better known actions was to drown Kyra Phrosone – the girlfriend of his eldest son – and 17 young girls by throwing her into the water alive bound in a weighted sack in lake of Igoumenitsa after she denied Ali’s sexual advances.

Pending research more of this kind of stories to follow of course in the blog.

The sailing route

The course I envision sailing next year will be start from Murter and I will then heading down via Split, Hvar and Korcula to the one of the most laureated cities of the Adriatic: Dubrovnik. From Dubrovnik I will be leaving Croatia and after a short visit to Monenegro sail to Korfu, Levkas and Ithaca off course in Greece.

Large Places

Chill-out Places

Historic Places

Places of Literature

From Greece I will return via Italy where I am especially interested in Puglia and some very special cities along the coast like Trani & Monopoli. To the east-coast of Italy close to the “spur” there are the islands known as the Tremiti Archipel and from there I would like to cross the Adriatic See to Croatia and sail back to Murter via the Dalmatian Archipel and the Kornati.

My best guesstimate is that the total trip is around 1,500 nautical Miles and will take a month or two to complete if the Gods are with me. If not it could took me 17 years to return but then I could at least say that I have been sailing like Odysseus.